Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Getting Things Done

When we truly need to do is often what we most feel like avoiding.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but the way out is through.

Sometimes the biggest gain in productive energy will come from cleaning the cobwebs, dealing with old business, and clearing the desks—cutting loose debris that's impeding forward motion.

The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. —WILL ROGERS

When people know they have a process in place to handle any situation, they are more relaxed. When they’re relaxed, everything improves. More gets done, with less effort, and a host of other wonderful side effects emerge that add to the outcomes of their efforts and the quality of their life.

We fought so hard against the small things that we became small ourselves. —EUGENE O’NEILL

Merely having thoughts is one thing. Consciously feeding them is quite another. You are powerful all the time, by way of your attention and intention. The question is, Toward what are you pointing that power?

An infinite number of things in the universe are held back from you only by your altitude and attitude.

A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. —CHARLES DARWIN

If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be: “meetings.” —DAVE BARRY

I’ve discovered that the greatest challenges in defining your work are (1) to think about what you’re doing and (2) to do something about what you’re thinking.

This would be a Zen-like state of productivity, in which you deal with what’s present from a perspective that is both detached and fully engaged.

Uncaptured, unclarified, and therefore unmanaged things that you have agreed to do own a piece of you and give you no rest.

There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the real labor of thinking. —THOMAS EDISON

But sometimes I have to get out of my comfort zone to stay motivated to do excellent work over the long term.

By the way … What’s true for you right now? Would it be useful to bring others in your life and work up to date with any of that right now? With anything you consider a problem at the moment, what’s the actual data that causes you to think it’s a problem? Can you see the information another way?

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.

That’s why I maintain a healthy skepticism when people want to get control of their work and life by “setting priorities.” This is often just an attempt to sidestep responsibility for what they’ve been engaged with irresponsibly. My choice is always to go for cleaning up the garage of their work, their life, and their head. Then the priorities, the vision, and the plan emerge—grounded, with solid roots.

Perhaps the questions really should be these: Where is the balance between my shoulder-to-the-wheel hard work and my inner reflective process that nourishes and rekindles the flame of inspiration and expansive expression? Are my inner-focused and outer-focused activities in proper proportion and relation to each other? What type of action is optimal for me right now? Is it best to take time to breathe, refocus in a subtler place, and shift to a higher and healthier perspective? Or do I need to put my physical butt in gear and get moving, to keep my agreements with myself and expand my expression in the world with more gusto and conscious involvement? If

So there is an issue—or a dualistic aspect of our desire for human perfection or at least progress—that begs for resolution. But I learned years ago that in this kind of no-win philosophical situation, there is probably a higher perspective that dissolves, rather than resolves, the dissonance. In other words, being versus doing may not be the issue.

The value of a future goal is the present change it fosters.

You are powerful all the time, by way of your attention and intention. The question is, Toward what are you pointing that power?

If you limit your choices to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise. —ROBERT FRITZ

Doing nothing is not only a waste of energy—it often promotes decay and unnecessary complexity and stress.

The real challenge is to make good communication a handy and well-used tool. Then you are likely to pick it up and use it without thinking. —MAX DEPREE